NZHistory, New Zealand history online - air force

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WRNZAF recruitment poster

‘A modern career for a modern woman’: Cover of recruitment booklet for the Women’s Royal New Zealand Air Force (WRNZAF), 1955.

In 1977 the WRNZAF was integrated into the RNZAF as part of a broad policy shift by the New Zealand military. Prompted by staff shortages and accelerated by the passing of the Human Rights Commission Act 1977, the change radically reshaped the air force. Women gained equal pay, equal rights to accident compensation and superannuation and access to more trades and training. Some restrictions remained – aircrew positions remained male-only and women were denied combat roles. Further changes in the 1980s allowed women to become non-combatant aircrew, and the first New Zealand woman gained her ‘wings’ as a pilot in 1988. Today women in the RNZAF have access to all ranks and trades and to all overseas postings.

Credit:

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: Eph-A-AIRFORCE-1955-01-front
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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women

NZ Fighter Wing scoreboard, 1943

The New Zealand Fighter Wing scoreboard at New Georgia in the Solomon Islands, November 1943. Facing the camera, from left to right: Air Commodore Sidney Wallingford, Wing Commander T.O. Freeman, NZ Governor-General Sir Cyril Newall, Major-General Harold Barrowclough.

RNZAF pilots were credited with destroying 103 Japanese aircraft during the Solomons campaign, 1942–1945. Of these, 99 were shot down by the New Zealand Fighter Wing (Nos 14–18 squadrons) – the most by Allied fighters in the theatre – and four by New Zealand Hudson and Ventura bombers.

Credit:

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: 1/2-106437-F
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Air Force Te Tauaarangi O Aotearoa

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RNZAF flight after Christchurch earthquake

Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) personnel board a RNZAF C-130 Hercules at Ōhakea air base heading to Christchurch following the 2011 earthquake.

Credit:

Winston Wolfe (Wikipedia)

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McDonnell Douglas Skyhawk

McDonnell Douglas Skyhawk replica painted in the colours of No. 2 Squadron RNZAF at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand in Christchurch, 2006.

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wigram

Farewelling the Queen, 1986

Prime Minister David Lange, Mrs Lange, Governor-General Sir Paul Reeves, Lady Reeves, and royal aides wave to Queen Elizabeth on board her RNZAF Boeing 727 aircraft in Christchurch, 1986.

Credit:

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: EP/1986/1039/34-F
Photographer: John Nicholson
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Winston Wolfe (Wikipedia)

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RNZAF Antarctic Flight

De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver aircraft from the RNZAF Antarctic Flight on display at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand in Christchurch, 2008.

The RNZAF Antarctic Flight was formed in 1956 to help the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition. The three-strong flight was led by Squadron Leader J.R. Claydon and equipped with a de Havilland Beaver (see above) and an Auster floatplane. It helped transport men, dog teams and supplies, and carried out geological mapping over two summers (1956–1958) before it was disbanded in 1960. RNZAF operations in Antarctica resumed in 1965 when a Hercules flew the first of what have become annual summer flights from Christchurch to the continent.

Read more about New Zealand's involvement in Antarctica (NZHistory)

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antarctica

Vampire jet at Ōhakea

A De Havilland Vampire jet Ōhakea air base, circa September 1951.

Credit:

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference:114/352/01-G
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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ohakea

Geoffrey Fisken

Flying Officer Geoffrey Fisken stands in front of his P-40 Kittyhawk – Wairarapa Wildcat. A Wairarapa farm worker, Fisken was the leading Commonwealth fighter ace in the Pacific, shooting down 11 Japanese planes.

Credit:

Wikipedia